1. Field of the Invention
A bracket is provided for supporting electrical communication lines for telephone connections, computer networking, and cable television which consists of a c-shaped frame which can be placed around a conventional electrical outlet box that has been attached to a vertical wall stud. The bracket allows the electrical connections to be located in an easily accessible site, and is convenient for both the installer and user.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Objectives of the Invention
It has become increasingly popular and necessary in recent years to position electrical wall outlets for homes and other buildings in convenient locations for the user as changes and replacements are frequently made to equipment such as television sets, computers, and telephones. With the increase in communications equipment and the requirements of various types of communication line outlets needed, particular attention must be paid to the aesthetics of such installations, with building codes and regulations preventing high and low voltage lines in a single junction box. Formerly, when only a single electrical outlet was placed on a room wall, little or no attention was directed to the outlet placement. However, in recent years, in addition to the conventional electrical outlets, other types of communication lines must now be installed, usually by others than the primary wiring electrician, such as for cable television, computer networking lines, telephone lines and the like. Thus originally, where only one or two outlets were installed by an electrician, now a room wall in a house may require five or six outlet types to accommodate low voltage systems installed by technicians other than the primary electrician. Hence, the wall can suddenly become cluttered and leaves little wall space in some instances, for convenient and aesthetic furniture and equipment placement.
Attempts have been made in the past to consolidate certain of the outlets such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 354,953 which demonstrates a cable holding device beside an electrical power outlet box. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,383 shows a bracket for holding a series of electrical junction boxes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,525 provides an electrical box mounting bracket positioned between wall studs for containing different sizes of electrical boxes for various devices.
While such prior art devices are useful in certain instances, a need has remained to simplify and consolidate wiring terminals in homes and other buildings for more complex and numerous electrical line types without disturbing the wiring of the primary electrician.
Thus, with the disadvantages problems encountered with prior art brackets and methods, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to supply an electrical outlet box mounting bracket which simplifies the communication and electrical installers' work in providing outlets for various electrical transmission communication lines while maintaining separation of high and low voltage lines.
It is another objective of the invention herein to provide a mounting bracket which consists of a c-shaped frame for surrounding a conventional stud mounted electrical outlet box which will not modify the primary electrical wiring.
It is also an objective of the invention to provide a mounting bracket which can be easily affixed to a vertical wall stud prior to wallboard or sheet rock installation.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a mounting bracket which will allow a homeowners' wall to maintain an aesthetic appearance by reducing and consolidating the number of outlets and cover plates needed.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.